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This is the third installment of my journey through Soul Dancer’s free Pay Me What I’m Worth course sampler. If you missed any shows, its all good! Click here to access the entire series.
Video Response
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Chapter Two: What Are You Worth?
So far on this Pay Me What I’m Worth journey we’ve explored the concept of worth and how material possessions affect our perception of worth. In this chapter we get a bit more personal and take an inventory of the skills and abilities that contribute to our worth — both objectively and subjectively.
What do I mean by “objectively and subjectively”? Let me elaborate…
Objectively, your skills and abilities give you measurable perceived value. When someone hires you, they are hiring, in part, your ability to perform certain tasks, be it ring up someone’s order or coach them through to their next level of success. People may also value you as a friend or a colleague because of your skills. Your “shoulder to cry on” skill, as well as your ability to encourage and support are valued by your friends. Your ability to network or explain the nuances of WordPress are valued by your colleagues. These are all objective values … they are measurable aspects of your worth.
Subjectively comes from within. These are the skills and abilities that contribute to your sense of confidence and self-worth. They are things about you that you value, which may or may not be valued by others. They are also hard to measure, because their value often lies in the experience of the beholder. For example, I value my sense of humor … but I’m not necessarily going to get paid for it. And some people may not agree with it. I also value my eclectic creativity, but it, as a whole, is not what people hire me for.
Each and every one of us has numerous skills that provide objective, measurable value to others, as well as skills that make us pleasant to be around and give us a sense of self-worth.
Completing a skills inventory, as suggested in Chapter 2 of Pay Me What I’m Worth, can be a profoundly eye-opening experience. Completing the exercises will result in an almost 360 degree assessment of your skills and abilities and will illuminate corners and crevices of value that you haven’t seen in the light of day in a long time, if ever.
Thankfully, this chapter wasn’t as emotional for me as Chapter 1 was, for I’ve done this work before. I’ve inventoried my abilities every time I decided to switch careers (I’ve re-invented myself several times), and so … through my career travels … have become a skill collector, constantly growing and learning new things and new ways of doing things.
Below, you’ll find a sample of the skills I came up with using the skills list included in Chapter 2.
Carma’s Skills
What follows is a quick list of skills that I recognize in myself and that others have mentioned. It is not a comprehensive list … it is a list I came up with in about five minutes, just dipping my toes into this exercise. I used the list included on pages 28-30 of Pay Me What I’m Worth as a guide. Depending on how well you know me, you may agree or disagree with what’s listed here. And that’s OK.
- advise people
- coach individuals
- collaborate ideas
- conduct interviews
- conduct meetings
- create new ideas
- develop plans for projects
- dispense information
- edit written work
- encourage others
- entertain people
- express myself verbally
- express myself in writing
- imagine new solutions
- interact with people at different levels
- science writing
- online marketing skills
- public speaking skills
- knowledge of universal laws
- organize files
- plan agendas/meetings
- propose ideas
- provide services
- comprehend what I read
- remember things I experience
- support others
- train others
- dance
- choreograph
- bake
- cook
Coming up in future installments of this journey:
- July 31 – Chapter 3: Why Are You Worth It?
- August 14 – Chapter 4: When Are You Worth It?
- August 28 – Chapter 5: How Worth Grows
- September 11 – Chapter 6: You Get What You Pay For
- September 25 – Chapter 7: Pricing the Priceless
- October 9 – Chapter 8: Performance Based Contracts
- October 23 – Chapter 9: Ethics & Integrity
- October 30 – Chapter 10: Gratitude Guidelines
Aloha Carma,
Imagine someone saying this to you at the end of a job interview…
“Carma – you’ve got great skills. We’re ready to hire you. Before we make you an offer, forget about all the hard work you’ve done to gain and maintain those skills. Forget about the hours of studying, practicing, driving, working to pay for school. Forget all that history so when we offer you money for your skills, you’ll feel less cheated by our offer.”
Would you take the offer?
Many do – cause ‘they need the work.’
Once you’re done with this chapter, the confidence you radiate based on a solid understanding of your skill set(s), will inspire people to pay you what you’re worth on many levels (time, money, respect, attention, etc.).